


Sweet Reassurance

by TheAuthorGod



Series: Forever Already [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Castiel, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Genderism, M/M, Nerd Dean, Omega Dean, Omega Dean Winchester, Punk Castiel, Social Commentary, Yoga Instructor Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 02:38:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3711712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAuthorGod/pseuds/TheAuthorGod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel had a bad day at work and needs some comfort.  While Dean isn't always the best at comforting people, it has always come naturally with Cas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweet Reassurance

Dean swallowed hard before wiping his hands on the red rag and hanging it on the handle to his toolbox. Each of the mechanics had their own toolbox and it was nice to be given property like he was an equal to the alphas.  
  
“You about ready to head out, son?” Bobby was standing at the door to the small office area. He had cleaned up almost 45 minutes before but stuck around. Dean tried not to think about the time that he was left alone to close up the shop; a disgruntled customer had decided to pay a visit. It hadn’t been pretty.  
  
Swiping his hands against his alpha style jeans, Dean nodded. “Just about.” He picked his keys off of the peg board next to the door and clapped Bobby on the shoulder when he scooted past. “I’m gonna have to stop by the store on my way home. I have a hankering for a good bacon cheese burger; but, we ate all the bacon yesterday at breakfast.” He sent Bobby a toothy smile.  
  
“Yeah, yeah. I don’t want to hear about your weird ass ways of showin’ affection.” Bobby grumbled it; but, he had a light look in his eye. Bobby liked Cas; he thought that Cas was a little weird but Bobby thought that about anyone. “Be careful, though.” He made his way to his Chevelle and watched Dean lock the front door and get into his baby before rolling out.  
  
Dean jabbed at the radio. Cherry Pie came on. Dean decided he’d probably pick up some pie when he got the bacon.  
  
\---  
  
“Dude, I’m home.” Dean sniffed in the home smell that had taken over what used to be Cas’ flat. It was so welcoming that Dean had to consciously try not to melt. He swung the door closed and shifted the pie to the other hand to preserve it as best he could. “I can smell that you’re home. Where are you?”  
  
Dean threw the bacon in the fridge and placed the pie on the counter. He turned it and adjusted it until it was just right; although, Dean wasn’t quite sure what ‘right’ was. Cas had once huffed a laugh into his coffee and muttered something about a nesting instinct. Dean tended to roll his eyes at those comments. “Yo, dude. I got pie.” Still nothing. “Are you ignoring me?” Dean followed the familiar scent of Cas to their room.  
  
A part of Dean really hoped that Cas was not about to pounce on him with sexy times when he opened the door because he just bought some damn good looking pie; but, on the other hand – sexy times. When Dean pushed the door open, the fear of sexy times faded as the smell of distressed alpha hit his nose.  
  
Closing the door and crossing the room to the bundle of sheets, Dean felt emotions bubble up in him, among them were fear, rage, and confusion. “Cas, Cas? What happened?”  
  
A sniffle came from the bundle of comforter.  
  
Dean peeled back the first layer to find a red-faced Cas. He was covered in tear stains and he seemed to be sweating from his burritoed state. “What’s wrong?”  
  
Looking everywhere but Dean, Cas’ eyebrows drew together. He muttered, “Nothing.”  
  
“This is not nothing.” A buzz entered Dean’s voice. Dean had been assured by his doctor that all his hormone levels were safe and normal; but, Dean didn’t think any omega went into omega mode quite as much as he did. But, he also didn’t grow up in a house with an omega.  
  
Cas’ eyes met Dean’s. Their red rims made the blue irises pop even more than usual. “I’m sorry, Dean.”  
  
“No. Tell me what happened.” He was still standing over Cas. He hadn’t made a move to comfort him or even touch him apart from peeling back Cas’ chrysalis from his face.  
  
Cas licked his lips and looked away.  
  
Dean caught Cas’ chin and brought his eyes back to Dean’s. “No. Tell me what happened,” he repeated.  
  
“I…” Cas trailed off; but let the cover fall off of his shoulders. He had sweat through his yoga tank. He let out a jittery breath. He shook his head and reached his hands out for Dean; a new wave of tears falling over the bottom ledge of his eye lids.  
  
Kneeling on the bed beside him then maneuvering them into a laying position, Dean tried to push the rest of the covers off of Cas. Cas tended to cough when overheated. Almost to prove his concern, Cas coughed and then whined when more tears fell because of it.  
  
Dean pulled Cas into the center of the bed then deposited himself into Cas’ shaking arms. Dean wrapped his arms around Cas’ shoulders and rubbed his neck with one hand, close to the mating mark. He nuzzled into Cas’ chin. His nose picked up a heavy tear but he didn’t care about that; he cared that more were still falling.  
  
Burying his head into the notch where Dean’s jaw met his neck, Cas took in a long shaky breath. He murmured something so low that even Dean couldn’t hear him despite his mouth being right next to Dean’s ear.  
  
Licking his lips, Dean tried to control his own emotions. “What was that?”  
  
Cas shuddered. “Today,” snuffle, “one of my students,” sniff, “needed help with a yoga position.”  
  
Normally, Dean would stop Cas and ask him what position it was because Cas loved to prove his superior memory and knowledge of yoga; but, this time, Dean stayed silent.  
  
“She’s always,” huff, “She’s always at the back of the class. I went over to help her and she froze.” He pressed his face into Dean’s neck. “She started telling me that no upright alpha would ever do yoga, let alone teach it.” His shoulders vibrated slightly with another breath. “She told me I was an unfit alpha. Then, then she pointed at your mating mark,” Dean brushed a finger over it on Cas’ neck, almost subconsciously, “and – and…” He shook his head with renewed vigor and Dean could feel new tears run down Cas’ cheeks to his neck.  
  
A protective flare rose in Dean.  
  
“The worst part,” Cas pulled away to look at Dean. He wasn’t wearing his usual piercings; he tended to take them out when he taught then put them in again after. Dean hadn’t noticed before; but, now, it only made him angrier because of how much this woman upset his mate, upset Cas so much that he didn’t even put his beloved piercings back in. “The worst part is that I could live with all of that; I was fine until she told me that whoever I mated must have been as messed up as I was.” Cas worried his lip where his lip ring usually was. “I couldn’t handle it. I mean, you’re not this messed up; I, I snapped and-”  
  
“You lost your job?” Dean’s anger simmered up again.  
  
Cas shook his head quickly to dispel it. “No, no, the manager was in the class today and saw; I wasn’t fired. I just got angry and broke one of the mirrors. We’re going to have to pay for that; but, she told me to go home for the rest of the day.”  
  
Nodding, Dean took a long moment to let everything slot itself into the right place in his head. He suddenly felt his emotion drain away. He surged forward into Cas and hid his face in Cas’ chest. He fought the tears that were welling behind his eyes. “You’re not broken.” He clung to the back of Cas’ sweaty tank. “Don’t you ever say that you’re broken.”  
  
“Dean-”  
  
“No.”  
  
The word was final. Neither spoke for a long moment.  
  
“And don’t ever think that either. You spend all this time reminding me that I’m not broken, reminding me that my hormones are normal and my heats are normal and my stupid nesting instincts are normal.” None of Dean’s tears had fallen; but, he knew his face was flushed with anger and embarrassment. He was breathing heavy. He looked up at Cas. “You are the best alpha. You take care of me and you watch over me. You help others.”  
  
Cas watched. His mouth was still open from where Dean had cut him off; but, he wasn’t actively trying to cut in. He was soaking it in, beginning to breathe more even. He began to nod. “Okay.” It was a small answer, a whispered one.  
  
“No. Not ‘okay’. You’re amazing. Tell me that you will never think of yourself as less than that.” Dean looked down for a moment trying to gather his rapid thoughts. His eyes flicked back up to Cas’. “Tell me that you will never think of yourself as less than what you think of me.”  
  
Eyes snapping open wider and his mouth following suit, Cas began to shake his head.  
  
Dean grabbed his jaw and pressed a passionate, desperate kiss to his open mouth. Dean pulled away but held firm to Cas’ jaw. “Tell me that,” Dean insisted.  
  
Cas’ expression remained unmoving for what seemed like a short forever before it softened and he nodded. “I promise that I’ll never think of myself as something less than what I think of you.”  
  
Laughing a sad laugh, Dean bit his lip and grinned at the same time. “See, you’ve got an amazing memory.”  
  
They huffed the same sad laugh again but in unison.  
  
Dean let out a long breath and nodded to himself just as much as he was nodding at Cas. “We’re equals.”  
  
Cas brought a no longer shaky hand to Dean hair and smoothed it affectionately. “Equals,” he echoed.  
  
“Good.” Dean sat up and Cas whimpered at the loss of heat. “Now, go shower.” He peeled the rest of the sheets off of Cas. “You smell like sad alpha. I’ll stick the sheet and comforter in the wash; I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight with this smell everywhere.” He started to strip the bed before Cas was off of it. “Up, up.”  
  
Smiling finally, Cas rolled out of the bed. He wiped his eyes and grabbed his gym bag. The spell on them had vanished; the emotions had run their course so everything fell back onto place. Cas sat cross-legged on the ground beginning to replace his many piercings and Dean bundled the sad-soiled bed clothes together to take to the washer.  
  
Cas spun the lip ring once. “Did you say something about pie?”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Dean sent a look to Cas. “Shower first.”  
  
\---  
  
12 years previous  
  
\---  
  
Dean pulled the bag of cheese curls off of the top of the fridge. It took skill but any alpha-to-be could do that. He smirked to himself when he called back into the living room with the bag. “I got the chips.”  
  
The boys were all there for Ash’s birthday. It was mostly boys; but Ash’s little sister was allowed to invite two friends to keep her company so Charlie and Anna were there too. Cas was surprisingly okay with Anna going to the same birthday party; Dean knew he would have been furious if he had to bring Sam along.  
  
Returning, Dean found a few of the boys pointing and laughing at Cas and Ash was trying to calm everyone down. He was really chill about most things; it was probably more Ms. Ellen than Ash that wanted the party in the first place. Taking his place next to Cas, Dean tossed the cheese curls to the middle of the circle. He glanced at Cas.  
  
Cas’ face was red and he was on the brink of tears. Dean had only been in the kitchen for a few minutes. He couldn’t have missed much.  
  
Victor pointed and laughed. “You could only go to ten; no one’s going to want you.”  
  
Looking to Ash for some explanation, Dean only saw that Ash looked really uncomfortable. Dean turned to Cas who was getting redder.  
  
Following Victor’s lead, Al sneered. “No alpha will want you. You can’t even fit ten marshmallows in your mouth.”  
  
Finding his voice, Ash make a flurry of motion before he was standing up. “How about we go play some of my new video games?” He held up some of the games he got as gifts.  
  
Shrugging, Victor got up to follow. The other boys were close behind, still laughing. Al was the last to depart, grabbing the cheese curls as she did.  
  
Dean turned to Cas. “What happened?”  
  
Cas’ eyes got wide but he didn’t do anything more. He didn’t move to say anything.  
  
“Cas, open your mouth.”  
  
He shook his head.  
  
“Dude.” Dean raised his eyebrows.  
  
Sighing, Cas opened his mouth. It was full on campfire sized marshmallows. Cas looked down at his hands dangling in the hole made by his criss-crossed legs.  
  
Dean tilted Cas’ head back and set a napkin on the carpet next to his knee. He pulled one, two, three marshmallows out of Cas’ mouth. “Good?”  
  
Closing his mouth then turning redder and looking away ashamed, Cas shook his head.  
  
“It’s okay. Open up again.”  
  
Cas obeyed immediately this time.  
  
Dean pulled out four, five, six marshmallows before Cas’ mouth snapped closed and he began to chew what remained in his mouth and swallow it. There was a charged moment before silent tears began to fall down Cas’ face.  
  
Not knowing what to do, Dean sat for a long moment watching Cas cry. Cas was pretty emotional; but, usually an adult was around and took care of the situation.  
  
Dean grabbed Cas’ wrist. “It’s okay.”  
  
“No it’s not.” Cas shook his head. “What if no alpha wants me? I don’t have a big enough mouth to, you know.” Cas became impossibly redder.  
  
Making a disgusted face, Dean tried not to think of some faceless alpha knotting Cas’ mouth. It made Dean’s insides burn. “If that is a reason for them not to have you, then they don’t deserve you.”  
  
Cas sniffed and used his free hand to wipe away the remaining tears.  
  
“Really.” Dean insisted. “Cas, don’t ever think that you’re not good enough. There will be an alpha that will be perfect for you. Just like there’s going to be an omega out there that is perfect for me even though I can fit like 25 of these things,” he pointed to the marshmallows on the napkin, “in my mouth all at once.” And because Dean was still mad at Victor and Al he added, “And then the ugly ones will have to settle for Victor and Al.”  
  
Minutely, Cas squirmed.  
  
Dean continued, stern. “And don’t you dare think you’re one of the ugly ones.” He looked away when his own cheeks turned pink. “Because you’re not.”  
  
Dean’s dad sometimes told Dean that he and Cas would be good together; but, Dean tried to ignore it. He didn’t want to be with someone because his father told him to be. He didn’t want to mate with some nobody either.  
  
Grinning, Cas’ face seemed to still hold a sad lilt to it. “Okay.” He nodded, a tiny gesture coupled with a tiny voice.  
  
Squeezing Cas’ hand, Dean knew it wasn’t a real answer, that Cas was just saying it, that Cas didn’t really believe what Dean was saying. But, Dean didn’t have any sort of claim on Cas. Cas wasn’t his. He had to keep reminding himself of that.  
  
Cas stood and brushed off his legs of the invisible lint he must have picked up from the carpet. He reached down and clasped Dean’s hand to haul him up. Smiling, Cas didn’t let go of Dean’s hand for a moment longer than strictly necessary.  
  
Nodding, Dean gestured for Cas to lead the way. Instead of heading upstairs, though, Cas led Dean to the back porch. They sat there for a while, Cas staring at the stars and Dean trying not to stare at Cas.  
  
Dean spent that time hoping that Cas’ future mate would be good to him, tell him the same thing Dean had, because Cas was perfect.

//FIN//

**Author's Note:**

> I guess the moral of the story is that Dean and Cas would still be Dean and Cas whether Dean is the omega or Cas is. I was just trying to create a parallel. I think it worked....? 
> 
> If you liked this childhood to adulthood parallel thing, then you should check out my one-shot AU Pause.
> 
> Come check me out on [tumblr](www.cockleddean.tumblr.com); I take requests and prompts!


End file.
